WE ENTER INTO A COVENANT

WITH GOD

The Law of the Old Covenant

 Learning Outcomes

To understand how God established the major covenants in the Testament and
realize that the old covenant prepares the way for the new and everlasting
covenant
To develop the attitude of listening, obedience and trust in God
To pray for the gift of obedience and to ask for forgiveness for one’s
shortcomings
What is the Old Covenant?
• The Old Covenant refers to the relationship or
agreement established by God with the Jews as
depicted in the Old Testament.
• This has become the foundation of the idea
that the Jewish people, the Israelites, are the
chosen people of God.
• The circumcision is the sign of this covenant.
in the time of Abraham
How do the Old
Testament texts
portray God?
1. God is a person who is very generous.
He is a person who is not selfish.
He shares what he has.
His truth, goodness and beauty He shares.
Generously.
He shares his very image and likeness in creating humanity. After
creating the man and the woman, God provides for their daily
needs.
God takes care of what he created.
2. God is someone who always
initiates a relationship.
He is a friendly God.
He wants to make the people his friends.
God reveals himself in his works and he makes himself
knows.
In this way, the people could realize that they could
relate back to him.
3. God is someone who is demanding.
God is seen as someone who is demanding because what he wants is good for his people.
The chosen people Israel always fall short in this demand.
When God promised that he will protect them, that he will make Israel his beloved people,
He demanded that this people must worship Him alone.
But in turn, the people would always go astray looking for other source of providence,
worshipping false gods.
There are times when God wants to teach a lesson and he punishes the people.
These instances also proved that God is always open for communication as long you come
unto him.
4. God is someone who is forgiving and
merciful to the people who are contrite and
humble.
God is the one who would chose somebody who is righteous and
would serve as the bridge between him and his people. Then the
covenant is continuously renewed. you come unto him.
Man may be weak, man is sinful but God is always ready to forgive.
God always gives second chances so that man may be better and
better. But above all, man must acknowledge that God is a
present and a loving God.
What book or books in the Old Testament can
you find the laws?

TORAH or PENTATEUCH (penta = five)

-also called as the book of the law of Moses
considered to be the most sacred and most important part of the Old
Testament and the Hebrew people give so much value to the laws and
the books that contain the laws. Not only because they contain the
laws but because these books speak of God’s or Yahweh’s special
relationship with them as a people.
TORAH or PENTATEUCH
- composed of first five books in the Old Testament
- Genesis, Exodus, Leviticus, Numbers and
Deuteronomy (GELeND as acronym).
- Specifically containing the concrete laws knows as
commandments are the Books of Exodus and the Book of
Deuteronomy (deuteros is the Greek word of second; nomos
is the Greek for law).
MEANING:
• I, the Lord will protect you, provide for you, and even
fight for you against your enemies, so you will triumph
and will not fall.
• But I, the Lord, am your God, whom you should
worship alone. You should not have others gods beside
me. and my name you will respect and honor all
throughout generations and generations.
MEANING:
• To establish a more concrete agreement, God gave Moses the two tablets
containing the commandments or the decalogue.

Love
• These ten commandments are summarized into two: First,

God above all else, more than anyone

and anything else and; second, love your
neighbors as you love yourself.
 What are the major covenants in the Old
Testament?

• Adamic Covenant
• Noahic Covenant
• Abrahamic Covenant
• Mosaic Covenant
• Davidic Covenant
• Prophetic Covenant
Covenant Adam Noah Abraham Moses David Jesus
Mediator

Covenant Form Marriage Household Tribe Nation Kingdom Church

Covenant Sign Sabbath Rainbow Circumcision Passover Temple and Eucharist

Throne
Adamic Covenant

• Adam as the type of Jesus Christ who is the

true Firstborn son of God, as the true King
of Creation. And also of Eve as the type of
Mary, the mother of all the living and the
Queen of Creation.
Noahic Covenant

• God established the covenant with Noah after He

was pleased with Noah’s sacrifice. The sign of this
covenant is the bow in the cloud. Noah’s ark is
associated with the Church also called as the Ark
of Salvation.
Abrahamic Covenant

• God chose Abraham to become the father of a new and

great nation. Abraham was willing to offer his only son
Isaac.
• Isaac was a type of Christ who was willing to die for the
love of his father. Abraham, like Adam and Noah,
prefigured Christ in his role as Prophet, Priest and King.
Mosaic Covenant

• Moses led the Israelites out of slavery from Egypt.

• He prefigures Christ who brought the people out
from the [spiritual] slavery of sin.
 Davidic Covenant
• The Israelites are known for their cycle of sinfulness: “sin-
suffering-sorrow-salvation.” They would break the agreement
to worship God alone by worshipping other gods. God would
‘abandon’ them and allow them to suffer to teach them a
lesson. Time will come that they will acknowledge their
sinfulness, be sorrow for their sins and return to the Lord.
God, who is merciful and just, would listen to them and
would restore his promise to protect them.
Davidic Covenant

• God will then provide for their needs including guiding and
fighting for them against their enemies. So on, so forth.
Throughout this cycle, God sent judges to them who acted
as their spiritual guide and political leaders after the time of
the Patriarchs, Moses and Joshua. Eventually, the Jewish
people wanted to establish themselves as a nation.
 Davidic Covenant

• God chose a humble shepherd in the person of David and

God promised him that he will have a son who will build the
temple of God, be the Son of God, and rule over Israel
forever. Indeed, David had Solomon who was able to build
the temple. But this applies more perfectly to Christ, the
Messiah who could come from David’s line and will possess
these characteristics in a much fuller and truer sense.
 Prophetic Covenant
• The time of the great prophets commences the “new covenant.” The
coming of the Messiah was one of the main themes. You have to
realize that several hundreds of years before the coming of Jesus
Christ, the Israelites were scattered, defeated, enslaved and it was
during this period that they were hopeful of a Messiah, a political and
economic leader, like the King David. The prophet Isaiah prophesied
of Jesus Christ as the “shoot from the stump of Jesse, a branch that
will go out of his roots” (Isaiah 11:1).
 Prophetic Covenant
• The promise of God is that he will send someone from the lineage of
David who will make the Israelites great once again. Similarly, the
prophet Jeremiah prophesied that “the days are coming when God
would make a New Covenant with the house of Israel and the house
of Judah, not like the covenant made before when God took them by
the hand to deliver them out of the hand of Egypt. This time, the
covenant God will write upon their hearts” (cf. Jeremiah 31:31-34).
 Prophetic Covenant
• Jesus is the one foretold who would restore Israel in a spiritual sense
and not material sense. Ahh, God would become the leader who will
save them from sin and death, not the God who has military powers
or has many money. Further, the prophet Ezekiel prophesied: “God
will make with Israel a covenant of peace and banish wild beasts from
the land, so that they may dwell securely in the wilderness and sleep in
the woods and that God will shower down blessings to them” (cf.
Ezekiel 34:25-26).
 Prophetic Covenant
• With what the prophets said of the Messiah, the Israelites were
waiting in hope even until the time of the Romans, that he will be like
David who could kill a giant with a sling and a stone, who could
deliver them from their persecutors with many military men and
would restore the Davidic Kingdom. What they received was different
and Jesus was eventually rejected and crucified. But this God is the
cornerstone rejected by the builders.
The ushering of the New Covenant is called as the Eucharistic
Covenant. Jesus is the eternal covenant who would restore the
broken relationship due to sin with God. Jesus will make us
family with God again. Heaven is the promised land, the new
Jerusalem. The Body of Christ is the true temple of God. With
the sacrifice of Christ, we were given a covenant that can never
be broken. God established the Church, His Mystical Body,
through which the people could experience him again and
again.
We can see that God reaches out to
humanity time and again. He started
the relationship in a garden called Eden
and the reuniting and restoration would
be in the New Jerusalem, described as a
city and a garden.
How does the old covenant
prefigure the new? What
are some concrete examples
of this prefigurement?
The two testaments or covenants, namely the
Old and the New, complement each other.
They must not be compartmentalized or
dichotomized but taken together as a whole.
The old is the prefiguration of the new and
the new is the fulfilment of the promises and
agreement in the old.
The following examples or stories in the Old [Testament]
find their connection in the New [Testament]:

• God created the light first. In the Hebrew

context, the light speaks of God’s presence. By
the light, God is telling humanity that he is the
ever-present-God who has no beginning and
who has no end.
The following examples or stories in the Old [Testament] find
their connection in the New [Testament]:

When Moses was very curious to ask for the name of God there in the
burning bush experience, God revealed himself as the
“I am who I am” or Yahweh in Hebrew. God would usually
speak of himself as: “I
am the God of Abraham, the God of
Isaac, the God of Jacob.” Though many generations pass, God
remains to be “I am.”
The following examples or stories in the Old [Testament] find
their connection in the New [Testament]:

In the New Testament, God fully and completely

reveals Himself in the Person of Jesus Christ. This
God who promised to save is Christ. This God-in-
flesh in the person of Jesus, is called the
“Emmanuel” (meaning the God who is [present]
among us).
The following examples or stories in the Old [Testament]
find their connection in the New [Testament]:

When Jesus was about to offer his life for humanity’s sake and
return to His father, He left an everlasting memorial of Himself,
which is the Eucharist. This Eucharist is the ever-presence of
Christ until today and inside the churches where there are
tabernacles that house the Eucharist, there is a light that burns
telling us, God is present among us.
• God established marriage between man and woman
in the book of Genesis. Jesus blessed the sacrament of
matrimony at Cana and elevated it to a status of a
sacrament, a sign that gives grace. Later, the New
Testament would speak of Him as the Bridegroom and the
Church is the Bride. Jesus has gone ahead to the Father and
waiting for the Bride to be united with Him just as in a
marriage ceremony when the groom enters first in a
procession waiting for the Bride.
Towards the end of the book of Revelation (chapters 21 &
22), the last in the New Testament, there is the mention of
the Bride, the wife of the Lamb (with concordance to the
Second Letter of St. Paul to the people of Corinth, chapter
11 verse 2). The Church is now considered as the new
city, the new Jerusalem. This city had no need for the lamp
or light from the sun or moon for the glory of God it its
source of light and the Lamb its lamp in the Kingdom of
God.
• God punished Adam and Eve (Genesis 3) when they
disobeyed God. But in this event, we see the first
Good News. The Lord God, in punishing the
serpent, said: “I will put enmity between you and the
woman, and between your offspring and hers; he will
strike at your head, while you strike at his heel.” The
woman is [later on] the Blessed Virgin Mary and the
child the Lord Jesus Christ.
The disobedience of the first woman, Eve, and the
arrogance of the first man, Adam, brought curse and sin
to the world.
The obedience and humility of Mary and her son,
Jesus, brought salvation and reconciliation in the
world.
With this, Mary is the new Eve and Jesus the new
Adam.
• In the story of Noah, water has
become the cause of destruction,
punishment and death. In the story
of John the Baptist, and Jesus Christ,
water is the source of life
and rebirth.
• Abraham is the father in the faith
and model of trust in the Lord.
He offered his only son out of
obedience to God. God the Father
also offered his only begotten Son
for the salvation of the world.
• Isaac is the son of Abraham while Jesus is also
the son of Abraham.
He is the son of laughter and Jesus also gave joy
to the world.
Isaac was conceived in the barren womb of Sarah
and Jesus was conceived in the virgin womb
of Mary.
Because nothing is impossible with God.
• Jacob is the Father of the twelve tribes, the
chosen people of God. His name was changed into
Israel after he wrestled with God. So the twelve tribes
come from him. When Jesus founded and established
the Church who would become his people, he chose also
the twelve disciples who would become his apostles,
from whose foundation the Church shall be build and
grow. So from the exclusive covenant with the Israelites
in the Old to the inclusive, universal covenant in the new,
permanent and everlasting.
• Joseph is the favorite son of his father Jacob.
Because of jealousy, he was sold as slave by
his brothers. But that God’s plan would be
fulfilled. That became providential for Joseph
saved the life of the entire Israel. Jesus was
also sold by one of his disciples whom he
considered like a brother.
• Moses brought the Israelites out from the slavery in Egypt
(Egypt is symbolic of the slavery of sin). He was to lead
them towards the promised land Canaan. But they stayed
in the wilderness and had as their detour the Sinai. There
in Sinai, Moses received the tablets of stone containing
the ten commandments. Those served as a precious
memorial of God’s covenant with his chosen people.
However, Moses was not able to reach Canaan. It was
Aaron and Joshua who guided the Israelites
Christ is seen as the one who brought us from the
slavery of sin (Egypt) towards the Promised Land of
Heaven (Canaan). The name “Jesus” has reference to
“Yeshua” in the Old. The Israelites marked the escape
from Egypt with the Passover Meal. Jesus also
established the covenant with the meal we call the
Eucharist as commemoration of that Passover meal as a
testimony of God’s wonderful act of bringing them out
from slavery to salvation.
• Jesus came from the lineage of David. He was the
King-Hero for the Israelites. A mighty warrior who
could unite the people and strengthen the Kingdom.
When the Israelites was defeated one after another,
from the Babylonian captivity to the Greek
invasion, they were looking forward to a Messiah, a
warrior, a political and economic leader.
They were hopeful that the King promised would
have a military power and is very rich. They
welcomed Jesus with palm branches in a way
befitting a King on the event we now call Palm
Sunday. But the King Jesus is poor, had only 12 men
who left him alone. Jesus was not the political and
economic Savior but the one who saves from sin
and death – the real cause of agony and misery.
• Jesus is the one spoken of by the prophets.
He is the one referred to as the coming Messiah and
the coming of the new heavens and a new earth. The
one who would be born of a virgin and shall be called
Immanuel. The Prince of Peace and the One to whom
the Holy Spirit would rest upon Him. Further, Isaiah
prophesied that this One coming would become a
precious cornerstone, a sure foundation (cf. Isaiah
28:16).
• In the Old Testament times, the people would
repent and as an expiation for their sins, they
would offer lamb as peace-offering to
Yahweh. Today, we believe that Jesus is the
Passover Lamb [of God], who takes away the
sins of the world. We are invited to partake in his
heavenly meal here and in heaven as pledge of the
future glory [to come].
 Chapter Summary

• The Old Covenant refers to the relationship or

agreement established by God with the Jews as
depicted in the Old Testament.
• God is a generous God who shares and provides
for the needs of his people. He is the God who
initiates a relationship with them. This God is
demanding but also forgiving.
 Chapter Summary

• The covenant in the Old is “I will be your God and you will
be my people.”
• There are several covenants in the Old Testament and the
theme revolves around the coming of the only one begotten
Son of God, the fulfilment of everything He promised.
• The Old Covenant prefigures the New and the New
Covenant [Testament] fulfills the Old.